Hammock and Smiles

This boy makes me smile!!!

Family trip...complete with water slide

 We had a good excuse to get together and so we did and we got to laugh and visit and see all of our cute neices and nephews. We had a good time visiting with everyone!

 The girls put this tiara on my nephew Morgan. I just couldn't resist this picture of my handsome little nephew. What a cutie!!!!

Owen loved this water slide. The kids were really patient with him too, he would walk up and cut off anyone ready to go down and smile the whole time. What a goof! I love our family!!!

A good reason to be proud!

I was so excited for Zac! He made up his mind to run a half marathon and he and his good friend Lee trained for quite awhile making time to run and push himself. I am so proud of all his hard work and dedication. He did great! He ran the whole time and finished in a little over 2 hours. It was really fun cheering him on too!!!

 There was this sweet little couple that were with their grandkids, cheering on their daughter and her husband. When I sat by them earlier, they asked who I was cheering for and when I saw Zac, they cheered too and then again later on towards the end. They were so kind! And so I got a picture of Zac's fan club. :)

                                                           I am one lucky woman!!!!!!

This is Lee and his wonderful family. They are in our ward and we we think the world of them. It was great to spend time with them. And the best part is that we get to hang out with them even without running. :) Lee came in a bit before Zac, and we were really proud of him too!

Tired eyes

My kids love to run all day until they are exhausted and so here are some of the after math photos. I love the last one with Owen's juice evil-looking mustache. :)

Just so you know...

Well, we recently had an in home apt. for William (who is going through the same early stage program that Owen did), and while talking to our OT, she pointed out that there are some major red flags for William possibly being autistic as well. I was proud of myself for not crying until she left. And so, the next step is the official testing. There are 2 options for us at this point. They have Clinical Services that are available to us, where Zac and I would interview with them for 2 hours (answering questions and things like that) and then there is a week of testing and then two weeks later, we would know. Although, the initial interview would have to wait until Oct. 25th. (Their first availability). Our other option is a specialist in Ogden. Hour interview and then your life has a big change in front of it.

It is really hard to describe what this all feels like. Owen and William are soooooo different and so I just thought we wouldn't be doing all of this again. But, William's OT pointed out that when parents have one autistic child, that is what autism looks like to them. That is the norm and so anything different can't be autism. I had never thought about that. So, I started watching William very closely and started seeing the signs I maybe hadn't wanted to see. For example, he doesn't respond to his name, and won't sit on our laps unless he's tired or sick, he says mama sometimes, but other than that he is nonverbal, he isn't very interested in people...however, he and Owen are very different. Owen would play with the same toy for hours by himself, wouldn't want to be held when he got hurt and those sorts of things and William is the opposite. He loves to be held and snuggled with and is very aware of us and where we are.

All I know is that these are our children and just because it's hard and financially draining, there is nothing Zac and I wouldn't do for our boys. We love them and early intervention is the key and so, we will do the Up to 3 program, OT and Speech apts, meetings with specialist, classes, and anything else that we think will help our kids communicate and have happy, healthy, and fulfilling lives. It's interesting, I question my parenting style all the time, but lately I really think like I am doing everything that I can. And I am ok with that. Zac has been nothing but supportive and loving. He always looks for opportunities to show the kids new toys and games and just gives them unconditional love. I just have to say how lucky I am to be William's mother. He is giggly and happy and loving and warm and I can just tell that he is one in a million. I will keep everyone posted on the timeline for our testing and the results.

A true toddler

William is so incredibly busy! He loves to climb and climb and climb some more. He is so funny. He is smart and determined too! He keeps me on my toes, but he is so fun!!!!!

Occupational Therapy

We are at the point where we have had three different OTs. Our first one moved and then our next one had a baby and this is our third OT. We have been so lucky, all of them have been great. I have try to make an effort to take pictures of Owen working each therapist. These are very important people to us that have really taught us some great skills for Owen and for us to work on.

There are games, toys, swings, bikes, and all sorts of resources. There are also a lot of students that come off and on and they were all great. We had to laugh when a girl came in to observe and she had bright colored nails and he loved running his fingers over the polish. She won him over quickly! We usually went once a month, but right before school started, we were going twice a week. BUSY! So grateful for good people!